For the purposes of this article, unless a different meaning
clearly appears in the context:

(1) "Approved law-enforcement training academy" means any
training facility which is approved and authorized to conduct
law-enforcement training as provided in this article;

(2) "Chief executive" means the Superintendent of the State
Police; the chief natural resources police officer of the Division
of Natural Resources; the sheriff of any West Virginia county; any
administrative deputy appointed by the chief natural resources
police officer of the Division of Natural Resources; or the chief
of any West Virginia municipal law-enforcement agency;

(3) "County" means the fifty-five major political subdivisions
of the state;

(4) "Exempt rank" means any noncommissioned or commissioned
rank of sergeant or above;

(5) "Governor's Committee on Crime, Delinquency and
Correction" or "Governor's committee" means the Governor's
Committee on Crime, Delinquency and Correction established as a
state planning agency pursuant to section one, article nine,
chapter fifteen of this code;

(6) "Law-enforcement officer" means any duly authorized member
of a law-enforcement agency who is authorized to maintain public
peace and order, prevent and detect crime, make arrests and enforce
the laws of the state or any county or municipality thereof, other than parking ordinances, and includes those persons employed as
campus police officers at state institutions of higher education in
accordance with the provisions of section five, article four,
chapter eighteen-b of this code, and persons employed by the Public
Service Commission as motor carrier inspectors and weight
enforcement officers charged with enforcing commercial motor
vehicle safety and weight restriction laws although those
institutions and agencies may not be considered law-enforcement
agencies. The term also includes those persons employed as rangers
by resort area districts in accordance with the provisions of
section twenty-three, article twenty-five, chapter seven of this
code, although no resort area district may be considered a
law-enforcement agency: Provided, That the subject rangers shall
pay the tuition and costs of training. As used in this article,
the term "law-enforcement officer" does not apply to the chief
executive of any West Virginia law-enforcement agency or any
watchman or special natural resources police officer;

(7) "Law-enforcement official" means the duly appointed chief
administrator of a designated law-enforcement agency or a duly
authorized designee;

(8) "Municipality" means any incorporated town or city whose
boundaries lie within the geographic boundaries of the state;

(9) "Subcommittee" or "law-enforcement professional standards
subcommittee" means the subcommittee of the Governor's Committee on
Crime, Delinquency and Correction created by section two of this article; and

(10) "West Virginia law-enforcement agency" means any duly
authorized state, county or municipal organization employing one or
more persons whose responsibility is the enforcement of laws of the
state or any county or municipality thereof: Provided, That neither
the Public Service Commission nor any state institution of higher
education nor any resort area district is a law-enforcement agency.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2016 Regular Session
The West Virginia Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.